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[[File:ElvadPeterOWH 26Nov1916.jpg|thumb|right|Peter Elvad, 1916]]
 
<div style="white-space:wrap;font-size:125%">'''Omaha, Nebraska, 1912-1920'''</div style="white-space:wrap;font-size:125%">
 
<div style="white-space:wrap;font-size:125%">'''Omaha, Nebraska, 1912-1920'''</div style="white-space:wrap;font-size:125%">
  
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'''Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC)''' was a vertically integrated real estate development company combining financing, architectural design, and construction services. It was organized in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1912 under Peter Elvad (1883-1953) as president.[[#References|[44]]] BRIC initially built single-family residences, but soon expanded to a wider range of commercial and institutional projects in communities throughout Nebraska and surrounding states. BRIC grew rapidly and added at least three staff architects in 1916 and 1917.[[#References|[2][3][4]]][[#Notes|[a]]] North American Hotel Company (NAHC) was a closely affiliated subsidiary created as the operational arm for the enterprise's hotels. Hospitality projects were announced in numerous Nebraska communities as well as in Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri before World War One disrupted investment and construction activities.[[#References|[11]]] In 1918 NAHC was barred from issuing additional stock in Nebraska. In 1919 NAHC sued BRIC, even though the two firms had overlapping boards of directors, and the joint enterprise went bankrupt in 1920.[[#References|[5]]] This listing includes the known projects of Bankers Realty and North American Hotel. Those BRIC projects linked with specific designers are also entered on those individuals' pages.[[#Notes|[b]]]
 
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'''Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC)''' was a vertically integrated real estate development company combining financing, architectural design, and construction services. It was organized in Omaha, Nebraska and initially developed residences, but soon expanded to a wider range of projects and communities in Nebraska and regionally. BRIC expanded rapidly and hired at least three staff architects in 1916 and 1917. North American Hotel Company (NAHC) was a closely affiliated subsidiary created as the operational arm for the enterprise's hotels. Projects were announced in numerous Nebraska communities as well as in Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri before World War One disrupted investment and construction activities. In 1918 NAHC was barred from issuing additional stock in Nebraska. In 1919 NAHC sued BRIC, even though the two firms had overlapping boards of directors. The enterprise went bankrupt in 1920.  This listing includes the known projects of Bankers Realty/North American Hotel.[[#References|[99]]][[#Notes|[g][w]]]  
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This page is a contribution to the publication, '''[[Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects]]'''. See the [[Format and contents of Nebraska architect entries|format and contents]] page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
 
This page is a contribution to the publication, '''[[Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects]]'''. See the [[Format and contents of Nebraska architect entries|format and contents]] page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
  
 
==Professional Associations==
 
==Professional Associations==
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1912-1920: Peter Elvad (1883-1953), president and general manager, Bankers Realty Investment Company, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[11][41][42][43][47]]][[#Notes|[b][k]]]
  
1916-1918: [[Percy Parke Lewis (1885-1962), Architect|'''P. P. Lewis''']], architect for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.
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1914-1920: [[William V. Kernan (1890-1963), Architect|'''W. V. Kernan''']], architect 1914-1915, chief architect 1916, purchasing agent 1917-1919, manager of construction division 1920, for Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC), Omaha, Nebraska.
  
1916-1918: [[Theodore Peter Bialles (1890-1945), Architect|'''T. P. Bialles''']], draftsman for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.
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1914-1915: [[Deloro W. Line (1886-1978), Architect|'''D. W. Line''']], architect for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.
  
1917-1919: [[Francis Willford Fitzpatrick (1863-1931), Architect and Artist|'''F. W. Fitzpatrick''']], head of architectural department and member of board of directors, BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[11][29][30][31][76][97]]][[#Notes|[g]]]
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1916-1918: [[Percy Parke Lewis (1885-1962), Architect|'''P. P. Lewis''']], architect for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[2]]]
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1916-1918: [[Theodore Peter Bialles (1889-1945), Architect|'''T. P. Bialles''']], draftsman for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[3]]]
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1917-1919: [[Francis Willford Fitzpatrick (1863-1931), Architect and Artist|'''F. W. Fitzpatrick''']], head of architectural department and member of board of directors, BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[4][7][9]]][[#Notes|[b]]]
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1918: [[Edward J. Sessinghaus (1892-1981), Architect|'''Edward J. Sessinghaus''']], structural draftsman for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[52]]]
  
 
1918: Bankers Realty employed [[Edwin G. Ward (1884-1943), Architect|'''E. G. Ward''']] as a draftsman.
 
1918: Bankers Realty employed [[Edwin G. Ward (1884-1943), Architect|'''E. G. Ward''']] as a draftsman.
  
 
==Buildings & Projects==
 
==Buildings & Projects==
Architectural contract for $35,000 school building (1916), Ewing, Nebraska.[[#References|[107]]]
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W. J. Clarkson residence (1914), 2520 North 48th Street, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[13]]]
  
Architectural contract for $20,000 school building (1916), Yutan, Nebraska.[[#References|[107]]]
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V. R. Gittings residence (1914), 2516 North 50th Street, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[14]]]
  
[[:File:HB14_w.jpg|'''Blackstone Hotel (1915-1916)''']], 302 S 36th, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[14][43][101][106][113]]][[#Notes|[z]]] (DO09:0319-006)
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"A Modern Seven-Room House" (1914), perspective photo & two floor plans published in ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'', "built in one of Omaha's prettiest additions."[[#References|[50]]]
  
[[:File:HB8 w.jpg|'''St. Regis Apartments (1916)''']], 617 S 37th, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[14][47][106]]] (DO09:0317-013)
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Frame dwelling (1915), 3016 Vinton, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[45]]]
  
Architectural contract for $20,000 school for St. Patrick's Academy (1916-1917), Sidney, Nebraska.[[#References|[103][107]]]
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[[:File:HB14_w.jpg|'''Blackstone Hotel (1915-1916)''']], 302 S 36th, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[7][18][19][20][21][22][53]]][[#Notes|[c]]] (DO09:0319-006)
  
30-unit apartment building (1916-1917), Plattsmouth, Nebraska.[[#References|[105][106]]]
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Architectural contract for $35,000 school building (1916), Ewing, Nebraska.[[#References|[15]]]
  
Hartington Hotel (1916-1917), Hartington, Nebraska.[[#References|[95][96][97][106]]][[#Notes|[w]]]
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Architectural contract for $20,000 school building (1916), Yutan, Nebraska.[[#References|[15]]]
  
Bluffs Hotel (1917-1918), construction begun but project not completed, Scottsbluff, Nebraska.[[#References|[31][77][112][113]]][[#Notes|[x][z]]]
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Cadillac Company of Omaha, Motor Sales Building (c. 1916), Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[53]]]
  
"figuring on the plans for the new school buildings," (1917), York, Nebraska.[[#References|[115]]][[#Notes|[aa]]]
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Garage building (c. 1916), 3812 Farnam Street, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[53]]]
  
High School (1917), Springfield, Nebraska.[[#References|[104]]]
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[[:File:HB8 w.jpg|'''St. Regis Apartments (1916-1917)''']], 617 S 37th, Omaha, Nebraska.[[#References|[7][18][23][53]]] (DO09:0317-013)
  
North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), project not completed, Sioux City, Iowa.[[#References|[108][112][113]]][[#Notes|[z]]]
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Architectural contract for $20,000 school for St. Patrick's Academy (1916-1917), Sidney, Nebraska.[[#References|[15][16][53]]]
  
North American Hotel Company hotel (1917), project not completed, Kearney, Nebraska.[[#References|[109][112][113]]][[#Notes|[z]]]
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Coronado (30-unit) apartment building (1916-1917), Plattsmouth, Nebraska.[[#References|[17][18][53]]]
  
North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), project not completed, Ottawa, Kansas.[[#References|[112]]]
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Hartington Hotel (1916-1917), Hartington, Nebraska.[[#References|[2][18][24][25][53]]][[#Notes|[a]]]
  
North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), Ogallala, Nebraska.[[#References|[112][113]]][[#Notes|[z]]]
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Bluffs Hotel (1917-1918), construction begun but project not completed, Scottsbluff, Nebraska.[[#References|[2][21][26][27][53]]][[#Notes|[c][d]]]
  
Blackstone Hotel (1917), unbuilt project at Linwood Blvd. and Passe, Kansas City, Missouri.[[#References|[110][113]]][[#Notes|[z]]]
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"figuring on the plans for the new school buildings," (1917), York, Nebraska.[[#References|[28]]][[#Notes|[e]]]
  
Red Cloud High School (1917-1918), Red Cloud, Nebraska.[[#References|[100]]][[#Notes|[y]]]
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High School (1917), Springfield, Nebraska.[[#References|[29]]]
  
[[:File:HL06-014_9505-022-34_1w.jpg|'''Yancey Hotel (1917-1923)''']], 123 N Locust, Grand Island, Nebraska.[[#References|[14][44][112][113]]][[#Notes|[z]]] (HL06-014)
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North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), project not completed, Sioux City, Iowa.[[#References|[21][27][30]]][[#Notes|[c]]]
  
Project for North American Hotel (1917-1918), Norfolk, Nebraska.[[#References|[80][112][113]]][[#Notes|[n][z]]]
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North American Hotel Company hotel (1917), project not completed, Kearney, Nebraska.[[#References|[21][27][31][53]]][[#Notes|[c]]]
  
Hotel Coonley (1917-1918), Second Avenue and First Street Northwest, Hampton, Iowa.[[#References|[111][112]]]
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North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), project not completed, Ottawa, Kansas.[[#References|[27]]]
  
Project for North American Hotel Company (1918), Eldorado, Kansas.[[#References|[46][112]]]
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North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), Ogallala, Nebraska.[[#References|[21][27]]][[#Notes|[c]]]
  
Project for North American Hotel Company (1918), Topeka, Kansas.[[#References|[112]]]
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Blackstone Hotel (1917), unbuilt project at Linwood Blvd. and Paseo, Kansas City, Missouri.[[#References|[21][32][51]]][[#Notes|[c]]]
  
[[:File:Bank_rendering_w.jpg|'''Atlas Bank & office building, (1918)''']], Neligh, Nebraska.[[#References|[14][87][97]]][[#Notes|[s]]] Exterior (2016) severely compromised by window replacement. (AP04-168)
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Red Cloud High School (1917-1918), Red Cloud, Nebraska.[[#References|[33]]][[#Notes|[f]]]
  
Masonic Temple, stores, & office building, (1918), 107 S Broadway, Riverton, Wyoming.[[#References|[14][87]]][[#Notes|[t]]]
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[[:File:HL06-014_9505-022-34_1w.jpg|'''Yancey Hotel (1917-1923)''']], 123 N Locust, Grand Island, Nebraska.[[#References|[7][21][27][34][53]]][[#Notes|[c]]] (HL06-014)
  
Elkhorn Valley State Bank & office building (1918-1919), Stanton, Nebraska.[[#References|[46][87]]][[#Notes|[p]]] (ST02-047)
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Project for North American Hotel (1917-1918), Norfolk, Nebraska.[[#References|[21][27][35]]][[#Notes|[c][g]]]
  
==Notes==
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Hotel Coonley (1917-1918), Second Avenue and First Street Northwest, Hampton, Iowa.[[#References|[27][36][53]]]
g. This page includes Bankers Realty projects carried out before Fitzpatrick was "engaged" by the company as a staff architect, such as the St. Regis Apartments, because his renderings include a beautiful watercolor of that project and Fitzpatrick is known to have worked for at least three Lincoln, Nebraska architects as a renderer, beginning as early as 1909. SEE '''VISUAL ARTS''' above.  
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The Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC) was described in a long article in the ''Sunday Omaha World-Herald'' of 1916 (identified as “Publicity Advertising”).  BRIC originated in 1912 and grew by 1916 to build projects such as the St. Regis Apartments and Blackstone Hotel.[[#References|[75]]] E. F. Morearty of Omaha provided a similar description of the company in 1917, also tracing its origins to 1912 in Omaha. He wrote, “Ten professions and forty-six trades are ordinarily required in carrying out a building enterprise of any magnitude.  And, ordinarily, these numerous factors work independently of each other, to the detriment of efficient and satisfactory results. The Bankers Realty Investment Company has welded together everything incident to the construction of any building, from a simple home to a huge business enterprise.”  Morearty bemoaned that he had not purchased stock in the company and recommended its purchase even “at its present advanced price….”[[#References|[29]]]  
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Project for North American Hotel Company (1918), Eldorado, Kansas.[[#References|[27][37]]]
  
Fitzpatrick continued his active writing for publication while with BRIC, in Nebraska newspapers [[#References|[116]]] and architectural magazines. In 1918 ''Inland Architect'' published an exuberant, richly illustrated profile of BRIC by Fitzpatrick, describing a vertically integrated group of businesses to design, construct, and operate buildings, especially hotels.  The article is complete with seven photos of the company’s Blackstone Hotel in Omaha and Fitzpatrick watercolor renderings of five other Midwestern projects.  He concluded “With the architectural end of the work in competent hands [his own], its construction, engineering, purchasing and general office details likewise directed by experts, the Bankers Realty Investment Company would seem to be assured so phenomenal a success that it must soon outgrow its present field of activity, the Middle West, for it is equipped to do construction along National lines.”[[#References|[14]]]
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Project for North American Hotel Company (1918), Topeka, Kansas.[[#References|[27][48]]][[#Notes|[l]]]
  
The Nebraska State Railway Commission did not agree, denying an application of the subsidiary North American Hotel Company to sell securities in Nebraska in 1918, questioning both its reporting of assets and the interweaving of the interests of the supposedly separate corporations, to the detriment of the stockholders.[[#References|[30]]] Fitzpatrick resigned as one of the four directors of BRIC and moved to the Chicago area by May 1919. The ''Omaha Bee'' reported in May 1919 that the company president, Peter Elvad, also relocated to Chicago and that "War restrictions on building operations affected the business of Bankers' Realty Investment company, as well as the North American Hotel company."[[#References|[102]]] The two "interwoven" companies engaged each other in litigation in 1919 and filed for bankruptcy in 1920. In 1920,F. W. Fitzpatrick was listed in the U. S. Census in Evanston, Illinois, where Francis and his wife, Agnes, were among nineteen residents of a boarding house.[[#References|[3]]]
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[[:File:Bank_rendering_w.jpg|'''Atlas Bank & office building, (1918)''']], Neligh, Nebraska.[[#References|[2][7][38][53]]][[#Notes|[h]]] Exterior (2016) severely compromised by window replacement. (AP04-168)
  
s. Fitzpatrick published a rendering in 1918 captioned "Design for a Bank Building, Omaha" depicting a long, narrow, two- story building with a sculpture of Atlas at the center of the front parapet, bending beneath a globe.[[#References|[14]]] The rendering closely matches Atlas Bank in Neligh, Nebraska, where another publication of 1918 indicates Bankers' Realty Investment Co. built a bank that year, designed by Fitzpatrick.[[#References|[87]]] Probably the caption in the first publication was simply erroneous, but it is possible the building was first planned for Omaha, then built instead in Neligh.
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Masonic Temple, stores, & office building, (1918), 107 S Broadway, Riverton, Wyoming.[[#References|[7][38]]][[#Notes|[i]]]
  
t. ''Bankers' Monthly'' of June 1918 credits Bankers' Realty Investment Co., and Fitzpatrick as "Chief Architect," with "a building for the Riverton, Wyoming Masons, which besides its lodge and club rooms and 22 suites of modern offices, will contain several stores, and one of the most attractive banking rooms in the State of Wyoming."[[#References|[87]]]
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Elkhorn Valley State Bank & office building (1918-1919), Stanton, Nebraska.[[#References|[39][40]]][[#Notes|[j]]] (ST02-047)
  
u. ''Construction'' magazine of August 1909 includes an article on Fitzpatrick's work as a renderer, illustrated with at least nine of his renderings, only some of which have been linked to specific projects or architects.[[#References|[88]]]
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==Notes==
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a. Omaha newspapers announced the hiring of three architects by Bankers Realty in 1916 and 1917. Percy P. Lewis (1885-1962) from Wilkes, Barre, Pennsylvania joined the company in February 1916 and was mentioned in connection with visits by Bankers Realty representatives to various communities in connection with Bankers Realty projects in 1916-1918.[[#References|[2]]] The Hartington Hotel was one such project. In 1916 two company representatives visited Hartington to view hotel sites.  One was "Architect P. Lewis." '''[[Percy Parke Lewis (1885-1962), Architect|Percy P. Lewis]]''' is listed in the 1916 Omaha city directory as an architect with Bankers Realty.[[#References|[2]]]  In March 1916 it was reported that '''[[Theodore Peter Bialles (1889-1945), Architect|T. P. Bialles]]''' "until recently of Chicago, has joined the architectural staff of Bankers' Realty Investment company." He was said to have studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Technical college and "has many years experience in large building designs."[[#References|[98]]] Further references to Bialles have not yet been found. A year later, in February 1917, ''Omaha Bee'' reported '''[[Francis Willford Fitzpatrick (1863-1931), Architect and Artist|F. W. Fitzpatrick's]]''' engagement "by the Bankers Realty Investment company as head of its construction department."[[#References|[3][4]]]
  
v. Two of four building perspectives in a ''Lincoln Sunday Star'' feature of August 1, 1915 are illustrated through reproductions of Fitzpatrick watercolor renderings, the Miller & Paine Department Store by architects [[Berlinghof & Davis, Architects|Berlinghof & Davis]] and the Floral Court apartments by [[Ellery Lothrop Davis (1887-1956), Architect|E. L. Davis]].[[#References|[89][90]]]
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b. The Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC) was described in a long article in the ''Sunday Omaha World-Herald'' of 1916 (identified as “Publicity Advertising”).  BRIC originated in 1912 and grew by 1916 to build projects such as the St. Regis Apartments and Blackstone Hotel.[[#References|[1]]] E. F. Morearty of Omaha provided a similar description of the company in 1917, also tracing its origins to 1912 in Omaha. He wrote, “Ten professions and forty-six trades are ordinarily required in carrying out a building enterprise of any magnitude.  And, ordinarily, these numerous factors work independently of each other, to the detriment of efficient and satisfactory results. The Bankers Realty Investment Company has welded together everything incident to the construction of any building, from a simple home to a huge business enterprise.”  Morearty bemoaned that he had not purchased stock in the company and recommended its purchase even “at its present advanced price….[[#References|[6]]]  
  
w. Omaha newspapers announced the hiring of three architects by Bankers Realty in 1916 and 1917. Percy P. Lewis (1885-1962) from Wilkes, Barre, Pennsylvania joined the company in February 1916 and was mentioned in connection with visits by Bankers Realty representatives to various communities in connection with Bankers Realty projects in 1916-1918.[[#References|[97]]] The Hartington Hotel was one such project. In 1916 two company representatives visited Hartington to view hotel sitesOne was "Architect P. Lewis." [[Percy P. Lewis]] is listed in the 1916 Omaha city directory as an architect with Bankers Realty.[[#References|[95][96][97]]]
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Fitzpatrick continued his active writing for publication while with BRIC, in Nebraska newspapers [[#References|[7][8]]] and architectural magazines. In 1918 ''Inland Architect'' published an exuberant, richly illustrated profile of BRIC by Fitzpatrick, describing a vertically integrated group of businesses to design, construct, and operate buildings, especially hotelsThe article is complete with seven photos of the company’s Blackstone Hotel in Omaha and Fitzpatrick watercolor renderings of five other Midwestern projects. He concluded “With the architectural end of the work in competent hands [his own], its construction, engineering, purchasing and general office details likewise directed by experts, the Bankers Realty Investment Company would seem to be assured so phenomenal a success that it must soon outgrow its present field of activity, the Middle West, for it is equipped to do construction along National lines.[[#References|[7]]]
  
In March 1916 it was reported that T. P. Bialles "until recently of Chicago, has joined the architectural staff of Bankers' Realty Investment company." He was said to have studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Technical college and "has many years experience in large building designs."[[#References|[98]]] Further references to Bialles have not yet been found. A year later, in February 1917, ''Omaha Bee'' reported Fitzpatrick's engagement "by the Bankers Realty Investment company as head of its construction department." Sparing no superlatives, the ''Bee'' noted that the Canadian-born Fitzpatrick "has fought his way to the very front rank of the architects of America." His years with the Supervising Architect of the Treasury were called "distinguished service...in charge of the government's most important building operations." And once again, in artfully couched terms, he was credited with developing "a scheme for constructing tall, steel or iron frame buildings. In fact, it is perhaps true that he was the first to originate and make possible the plan upon which present day skyscrapers are built."[[#References|[99]]] SEE Notes [[#Notes|[a]]] and [[#Notes|[b]]].
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The Nebraska State Railway Commission did not agree, denying an application of the subsidiary North American Hotel Company to sell securities in Nebraska in 1918, questioning both its reporting of assets and the interweaving of the interests of the supposedly separate corporations, to the detriment of the stockholders.[[#References|[10]]] Fitzpatrick resigned as one of the four directors of BRIC and moved to the Chicago area by May 1919. The ''Omaha Bee'' reported in May 1919 that the company president, Peter Elvad, also relocated to Chicago and that "War restrictions on building operations affected the business of Bankers' Realty Investment company, as well as the North American Hotel company."[[#References|[11]]] The two "interwoven" companies engaged each other in litigation in 1919 and filed for bankruptcy in 1920. In 1920, F. W. Fitzpatrick was listed in the U. S. Census in Evanston, Illinois, where Francis and his wife, Agnes, were among nineteen residents of a boarding house.[[#References|[12]]]
  
x. In Scottsbluff, the Bankers Realty/North American Hotel interests went head-to-head with another Omaha hotel group, starting to build the Bluffs Hotel shortly after Scottsbluff boosters gave free land to the group building the Lincoln HotelBoth projects suffered shortages of materials and capital during World War I, and both groups went bankrupt in 1921. But the Lincoln was finished and operating while the Bluffs Hotel, along with a half-dozen other hotel projects begun by North American Hotel Company in Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa in 1917, still stood incomplete in 1921. The “Bluff” was finally finished as Scottbluff’s Methodist Hospital.[[#References|[31][77]]]
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c. ''Hotel Monthly'' magazine commented on "Two Chains of Hotels in Nebraska" in August 1917, mentioned North American Hotel Company in Omaha and Nebraska Hotel Company in Lincoln.  The former "started with The Blackstone" in Omaha" and reportedly had five hotels "under construction at Kearney, Grand Island, Scottsbluff, Neb." and Hampton, Iowa. In addition, the Omaha firm was "promoting hotels in Sioux City,, Iowa; Norfolk, Neb, and Kansas City, Mo."[[#References|[21]]] The project was illustrated in ''Kansas City Star'' in September 1916.[[#References|[51]]] '''[[William V. Kernan (1890-1963), Architect|W. V. Kernan]]''' was mentioned as BRIC's "chief architect" prior to W. F. Fitzpatrick's hiring and apparently was the principal designer of The Blackstone in Omaha.
  
y. A newspaper in Red Cloud, Nebraska noted in 1917 that plans by P. P. Lewis of Omaha had been selected for a high school building and that he had been contracted to prepare specifications based on "Scheme B," provided the assembly room could be enlarged to accommodate 150 students. In January 1918 "paraphernalia" was being moved into the new building. "P. P. Lewis of the "Bankers Realty and Investment Co. of Omaha, the architects in charge" was in Red Cloud and planned to return when "the next cold snap" would provide an opportunity to test the heating plant.[[#References|[100]]]
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d. In Scottsbluff, the Bankers Realty/North American Hotel interests went head-to-head with another Omaha hotel group, starting to build the Bluffs Hotel shortly after Scottsbluff boosters gave free land to the group building the Lincoln Hotel. Both projects suffered shortages of materials and capital during World War I, and both groups went bankrupt in 1921. But the Lincoln was finished and operating while the Bluffs Hotel, along with a half-dozen other hotel projects begun by North American Hotel Company in Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa in 1917, still stood incomplete in 1921.  The “Bluff” was finally finished as Scottbluff’s Methodist Hospital.[[#References|[5][31]]]
  
z. ''Hotel Monthly'' magazine commented on "Two Chains of Hotels in Nebraska" in August 1917, mentioned North American Hotel Company in Omaha and Nebraska Hotel Company in Lincoln.  The former "started with The Blackstone" in Omaha" and reportedly had five hotels "under construction at Kearney, Grand Island, Scottsbluff, Neb." and Hampton, Iowa. In addition, the Omaha firm was "promoting hotels in Sioux City,, Iowa; Norfolk, Neb, and Kansas City, Mo."[[#References|[113]]]
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e. A brief note in a York, Nebraska newspaper in 1917 reported: "Makin [sic] Plans--P. W. Rathburn representing F. W. Fitzpatrick, former supervising architect of the United States, was in the city yesterday figuring on the plans for the new school buildings."[[#References|[115]]] York voters approved a large bond to build a new high school and three elementary schools in early 1917; '''[[Berlinghof & Davis, Architects|Berlinghof and Davis]]''' were their architects. Perry W. Rathburn was listed as a draftsman for an Omaha lumberyard in 1910. His connection with Fitzpatrick is not clear. Perhaps Bankers Realty Investment Company was preparing to bid on the construction. Fitzpatrick also prepared watercolor renderings for several Berlinghof & Davis projects, sometimes in support of bond elections.
  
aa. A brief note in a York, Nebraska newspaper in 1917 reported: "Makin [sic] Plans--P. W. Rathburn representing F. W. Fitzpatrick, former supervising architect of the United States, was in the city yesterday figuring on the plans for the new school buildings."[[#References|[115]]]  
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f. A newspaper in Red Cloud, Nebraska noted in 1917 that plans by P. P. Lewis of Omaha had been selected for a high school building and that he had been contracted to prepare specifications based on "Scheme B," provided the assembly room could be enlarged to accommodate 150 students. In January 1918 "paraphernalia" was being moved into the new building. "P. P. Lewis of the "Bankers Realty and Investment Co. of Omaha, the architects in charge" was in Red Cloud and planned to return when "the next cold snap" would provide an opportunity to test the heating plant.[[#References|[33]]]
  
York voters approved a large bond to build a new high school and three elementary schools in early 1917; '''[[Berlinghof & Davis, Architects|Berlinghof and Davis]]''' were their architects. Perry W. Rathburn was listed as a draftsman for an Omaha lumberyard in 1910. His connection with Fitzpatrick is not clear. Perhaps Bankers Realty Investment Company was preparing to bid on the construction. Fitzpatrick also prepared watercolor renderings for several Berlinghof and Davis projects, sometimes in support of bond elections.
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g. Hotel Norfolk in Norfolk, Madison County, Nebraska, began construction in 1920 and was not completed until 1925.  The project had its origins in 1917 when North American Hotel Company of Omaha, affiliated with Bankers Realty Investment Company, purchased a site in downtown Norfolk and announced intentions to build “one of the most beautiful hotel buildings in the state.”  In 1918 Bankers Realty developed plans for the project and excavation began, but halted by 1919 with the serious financial troubles of both related firms.  Norfolk investors managed to obtain possession of the site and resumed the project under new plans by the hotel architects H. L. Stevens Company.  A postcard view of the earlier design shows Fitzpatrick’s typically lively rendering style.[[#References|[35]]] 
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h. Fitzpatrick published a rendering in 1918 captioned "Design for a Bank Building, Omaha" depicting a long, narrow, two- story building with a sculpture of Atlas at the center of the front parapet, bending beneath a globe.[[#References|[7]]]  The rendering closely matches Atlas Bank in Neligh, Nebraska, where another publication of 1918 indicates Bankers' Realty Investment Co. built a bank that year, designed by Fitzpatrick.[[#References|[38]]]  Probably the caption in the first publication was simply erroneous, but it is possible the building was first planned for Omaha, then built instead in Neligh.
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i. ''Bankers' Monthly'' of June 1918 credits Bankers' Realty Investment Co., and Fitzpatrick as "Chief Architect," with "a building for the Riverton, Wyoming Masons, which besides its lodge and club rooms and 22 suites of modern offices, will contain several stores, and one of the most attractive banking rooms in the State of Wyoming."[[#References|[7]]]
 +
 
 +
j. ''American Contractor'' of February 9, 1919 includes: "Contracts Awarded...Bank & Office Bldg.: $20,000. 1 sty. 22x100 & 2 sty. Stanton, Nebr. Archt. F. W. Fitzpatrick, care contr. Gen. contr. let on percentage basis to Bankers Realty Co., Bee bldg., Omaha."[[#References|[39]]] ''Bankers' Monthly'' of June 1918 notes: "Work has been commenced on the excavation for the Elkhorn Valley State Bank, at Stanton, Neb., by the Bankers Realty Investment Co., of Omaha, Neb. It will be of classic style, and constructed of brick and stone.  The building will be 22 x 100 ft..."[[#References|[40]]]
 +
 
 +
k. Elvad left Omaha for Chicago in 1919 and organized another pair of interlocking companies, Continental Engineering Construction Company and Fidelity Securities Company. "According to reports from Chicago, operations of the two windy city enterprises were similar to those of the Bankers' Realty Investment and North American Hotel companies of Omaha." Both were in receivership by June, 1920 when it was reported "Elvad left Chicago last month and is now in Los Angeles."[[#References|[46]]] As late as 1923, while vacationing in California, William Kernan, "former Omaha architect," reported back to an Omaha newspaper that "Peter Elvad,former president of the Bankers Realty and Investment company of this city, which failed two years ago, is recuperating his shattered health and expects to get back into business in Los Angeles in the near future." In 1925, ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Elvad planned to build a $125,000 apartment building at 1219-1223 North Vermont Avenue in L.A. The 4-story, 37 unit building appears to be standing at that address today (2022). Other projects were announced and built (and are still standing), including a 8-story apartment house at 535 South Gramercy Place.[[#References|[49]]] Danish-born Elved died in California at age 70 in 1953. [[#References|[41][43]]]
 +
 
 +
l. BRIC's hotel project in Topeka was halted by the Omaha companies' financial woes in the 1919 after the foundation was excavated.  Work resumed in 1922 on the site under new ownership and new plans by architects Shepherd & Wiser of Kansas City.[[#References|[48]]]
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 +
1. “Plan and Operation of the Bankers Realty Investment Company,” ''Sunday Omaha World-Herald'' (November 26, 1916): B8 and E5 with portraits of Company officers and interior photos of Blackstone Hotel.
 +
 +
2. "Wonderful Growth of Omaha Now Attracting Builders of the East," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (February 13, 1916), 36 (with P. P. Lewis portrait); "East Watching Omaha, Declares P. P. Lewis," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (February 22, 1916), 12 (with portrait); "Prominent Wilkes Barre, PA., Architect Comes to Omaha," ''The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska)'' (February 24, 1916), 2.  SEE also "Atlas Bank Architect Here" and "Nearing Completion," both ''The Neligh (Nebraska) Register'' respectively (December 27, 1917 and January 17, 1918), both 5.
 +
 +
3. "Another Eastern Architect [T. P. Bialles] Comes to Omaha," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (March 26, 1916), 40.
 +
 +
4. "Noted Architect [F. W. Fitzpatrick] to Come to Omaha With Bankers Realty Investment Co.," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (February 18, 1917), 8 (with portrait).
 +
 +
5. “Ask Bankers Realty be declared bankrupt,” ''Omaha World-Herald'' (October 9, 1920), 11; and “Creditors of two companies sign pact,” ''Omaha World-Herald'' (December 14, 1921), 17, agreement between the bankrupt Bankers Realty Investment Company and North American Hotel Company.
 +
 +
6.  Edward Francis Morearty, “The Bankers Realty Investment Company,” ''Omaha memories: recollections of events, men and affairs in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1879 to 1917'' (Omaha: Swartz Printing Co., 1917), 241-243.
 +
 +
7.  F. W. Fitzgerald, “Mid-West Building Activities,” ''The Architect and Engineer of California'' (March, 1918), 91-98.
 +
 +
8. F. W. Fitzpatrick, "Really Big Business," opinion piece advocating review of governmental systems by "Chamber of Commerce of the United States," ''The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska)'' (June 14, 1917), 7.
 +
 +
9.  “Fitzpatrick chosen as a director [of the Bankers Realty Investment Company],” ''Sunday Omaha World-Herald'' (February 10, 1918), 9, with portrait.
 +
 +
10. “Application 3076, In the matter of the application of the North American Hotel Company of Council Bluffs, Iowa, for permit to sell securities in Nebraska,” ''Annual Report of the Nebraska State Railway Commissioner to the Governor, Issue 11'' (Nebraska State Railway Commission, Lincoln, NE: Kline Publishing Co., 1918), 299-304.
 +
 +
11. "Elvad, President of Bankers Realty Co., Goes to Chicago to Live," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (May 28, 1919), 11.
 +
 +
12. “United States Census, 1920," index and images, ''FamilySearch'', accessed February 17, 2013, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJW7-QK9  Francis W Fitzpatrick in household of Clara Root, Ridgeville, Cook, Illinois; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 14B, family 342, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820358.
  
1. Biographical summaries of Oliver Traphagen and F. W. Fitzpatrick, in University of Minnesota Twin Cities, TC Andersen Library Mss., Northwest Architectural Archives, N 96, accessed February 16, 2013, http://umnlib.oit.umn.edu/F/48I49UNC7GJH58AT1T4HXYIDQA82VXDRPCLQDA7LXVSA4K8B4S-04766?func=full-set-set&set_number=006690&set_entry=000002&format=999
+
13. "Omaha is Growing," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (February 1, 1915), 5.
  
 +
14. ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (February 16, 1915), 2.
  
43. Lynn Meyer, “Blackstone Hotel,” ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form'' (Omaha: Omaha City Planning Department, 1982), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728155830/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas/DO09-Blackstone-Hotel.pdf
+
15. "The Bankers Realty Investment company today announced...," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (April 15, 1916), 4.
  
44. Virginia F. Duncan, “The Hotel Yancey,” ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form'' (Lincoln, Nebraska: Devco, Inc., August, 1984), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728190434/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/hall/HL06-014_Hotel_Yancey.pdf
+
16. "Sidney, Neb.--School...St. Patrick's Academy," ''The American Contractor'' (April 29, 1916), 23.
  
45. Janet Jeffries Spenser, “Johnston Memorial Building,''National Register of Historic Places – Inventory Nomination Form'' (Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, January, 1986), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728211615/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/lincoln/LN09-002_Johnston_MemBldg.pdf
+
17. "Apt. Bldg. (30 fam): $40,000...Plattsmouth, Nebr.," ''The American Contractor'' (December 30, 1916), 60.
  
46. ''The American Contractor'' (March 23, 1918), 60, accessed through Google Books on January 12, 2012, http://books.google.com/books?id=UCJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA64&lpg=RA10-PA64&dq=f+w+clarke,+architect,+york+hotel,+nebraska&source=bl&ots=-QV--qNAlx&sig=yQZ--Gvu9ph8VGJ7unfHB-6P9QU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=whYPT97eOov9iQLF9M3fDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=f%20w%20clarke%2C%20architect%2C%20york%20hotel%2C%20nebraska&f=false
+
18. "The Most Important English Word..." (full-page advertisement for Bankers Realty Investment Company), ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (November 26, 1916), 14. Eight projects illustrated, including 4 completed: Blackstone Hotel (Omaha), St. Patrick's Rectory (O'Neil, Nebraska), Brondersleve Garage (38th & Farnam, Omaha), Double Store Building (Atkinson, Nebraska); and 4 "Architect's Drawing" for Blackstone Hotel (Kansas City, Missouri), Hartington (Nebraska) Hotel, St. Regis Apartment Building (Omaha), and "Apartment Building, Now under Construction for a Building Client at Plattsmouth, Nebraska."
  
47. Stacey C. Pilgrim and Lynn Meyer, “Gold Coast Historic District,” ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form'' (Omaha: Omaha City Planning Department, November, 1996), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20170108122509/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas/DO09-Gold-Coast-HD.PDF
+
19. Lynn Meyer, “Blackstone Hotel,” ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form'' (Omaha: Omaha City Planning Department, 1982), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728155830/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas/DO09-Blackstone-Hotel.pdf
  
48. “The Pittsburg Plate Glass Company’s Cincinnati Warehouse,''Fireproof Magazine'' 5:6 (December 1904), 47-48, illustrated.  Describes Fitzpatrick’s role as consulting architect (to architects Ball & Taylor of Cincinnati) on fireproofing.
+
20. "Fine New Hotel at 36th and Farnam. Three Hundred Thousand Dollar Building Planned, Bankers Realty Investment Announces," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee'' (May 12, 1915), 7.
  
49. ''Fireproof Magazine'' 9:1 (July 1906), 3;  masthead states, “The following are among the regular and occasional contributors to FIREPROOF MAGAZINE…F. W. Fitzpatrick, Consulting Architect, Washington, D.C.” among thirteen listed. Online: http://books.google.com/books/about/Fireproof_Magazine.html?id=tvHNAAAAMAAJ Volumes 9 & 10, 1906-1907, Accessed February 25, 2013; http://books.google.com/books/about/Fireproof_Magazine.html?id=GvLNAAAAMAAJ Volume 11, 1907, Accessed February 25, 2013; and http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000058117 Volumes 1 & 2,  1902-1903, Volumes 3 & 4, 1903-1904, Volumes 5 & 6, 1904-1905, Volumes 9 & 10,  1906-1907, Volume 11, 1907.  Missing only vols. 7-8 of 1905-06. Accessed February 25, 2013.
+
21. "Two Chains of Hotels in Nebraska," ''Hotel Monthly'' (August 1917), 82.
  
50. “The Society of Building Commissioners and Inspectors,''Fireproof Magazine'' 9:5 (November 1906), 216. Report of effort to reorganize the Society, encourages mayors and inspectors “should communicate directly with the secretary-treasurer, F. W. Fitzpatrick, 4200 Fourteenth street road, Washington, D. C.
+
22. "The new Blackstone Family Hotel as it will look when completed...," ''The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska)'' (October 14, 1915), 1.
  
51. William Gray Purcell, “Forgotten Builders—the nation’s voice,” ''Northwest Architect'' 8:6 (1944), 4-5.
+
23. Stacey C. Pilgrim and Lynn Meyer, “Gold Coast Historic District,” ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form'' (Omaha: Omaha City Planning Department, November, 1996), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20170108122509/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas/DO09-Gold-Coast-HD.PDF
  
75. “Plan and Operation of the Bankers Realty Investment Company,''Sunday Omaha World-Herald'' (November 26, 1916): B8 and E5 with portraits of Company officers and interior photos of Blackstone Hotel.
+
24. "To Decide Monday. Hotel Co. Officials to Return Then. Conditions Very Favorable. Architect Views Proposed Locations...," ''Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska)'' (May 18, 1916), 1.
  
76. “Fitzpatrick chosen as a director [of the Bankers Realty Investment Company],''Sunday Omaha World-Herald'' (February 10, 1918), 9, with portrait.  
+
25. "The Hartington Hotel, Banker Realty Investment Company, Architect and Builder," ''The Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska)'', (May 24, 1917), 7 (full-page, 14 photographs).
  
77. “Ask Bankers Realty be declared bankrupt,” ''Omaha World-Herald'' (October 9, 1920), 11; and “Creditors of two companies sign pact,” ''Omaha World-Herald'' (December 14, 1921), 17, agreement between the bankrupt Bankers Realty Investment Company and North American Hotel Company.
+
26. Clayton B. Fraser, “Lincoln Hotel, Scottsbluff, Nebraska,” ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form'' (Loveland, Colorado: FraserDesign, November 3, 1997, 14-18), accessed February 23, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728232922/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/scotsblf/SF11-211_Lincoln_Hotel.pdf National Register narrative
  
83. ''American Contractor'' (February 9, 1919), 50.
+
27. "More Hotels for North American--Omaha Concern Has Many New Enterprises Now Under Course of Construction," ''The Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (January 1, 1918), 13.
  
84. ''American School Board Journal'' (March 1912), 49; (July 1912), 69; (August 1912), 61.
+
28. "Local Brevities...Makin [sic] Plans," ''York (Nebraska) Daily News'' (February 17, 1917), 6.
  
85. ''American Carpenter and Builder'' (May 1912), 70-71.
+
29. "Springfield, Nebr.--High School; $25,000," ''The American Contractor'' (June 23, 1917), 25.
  
86. ''Nemaha County News'' (November 18, 1910), 1; (February 10, 1911), 1; (August 18, 1911), 1; (September 15, 1911), 1; (September 22, 1911), 1 (illustrated).
+
30. "Hotels...Sioux City, Iowa...$750,000," ''The American Contractor'' (July 7, 1917), 41.
  
87. "Country Banks in New Buildings," ''Bankers' Monthly'' (June 1918), 55.
+
31. "Hotels...Kearney, Nebr....$150,000," ''The American Contractor'' (April 21, 1917), 24.
  
95. "To Decide Monday. Hotel Co. Officials to Return Then. Conditions Very Favorable. Architect Views Proposed Locations...," ''Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska)'' (May 18, 1916), 1.
+
32. "The Blackstone Hotel, Kansas City, MO. Bankers' Realty Investment Co., Architects and Builders, Kansas City, Mo. [sic, corrected as Omaha subsequently], ''The American Contractor'' (December 16, 1916), 89 (illustrated with large rendering); "Hotels...Kansas City, Missouri...$700,000," ''The American Contractor'' (1917), 36 & 10.
  
96. "The Hartington Hotel, Banker Realty Investment Company, Architect and Builder," ''The Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska)'', (May 24, 1917), 7 (full-page, 14 photographs).
+
33. "School Board Contracts with Omaha Architect," ''Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska)'' (January 5, 1917), 1; ''Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska)'' (January 4, 1918), 1.
  
97. "Wonderful Growth of Omaha Now Attracting Builders of the East," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (February 13, 1916), 36 (with P. P. Lewis portrait); "East Watching Omaha, Declares P. P. Lewis," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (February 22, 1916), 12 (with portrait); "Prominent Wilkes Barre, PA., Architect Comes to Omaha," ''The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska)'' (February 24, 1916), 2; "Atlas Bank Architect Here" and "Nearing Completion," both ''The Neligh (Nebraska) Register'' respectively (December 27, 1917 and January 17, 1918), both 5; "Percy Parke Lewis" (obituary), ''Los Angeles Times'' (February 12, 1962), 52.
+
34. Virginia F. Duncan, “The Hotel Yancey,''National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form'' (Lincoln, Nebraska: Devco, Inc., August, 1984), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728190434/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/hall/HL06-014_Hotel_Yancey.pdf
  
98. "Another Eastern Architect [T. P. Bialles] Comes to Omaha," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (March 26, 1916), 40.
+
35. Dana L. Pratt, “Hotel Norfolk,” nomination to National Register of Historic Places, NeHbs#MD06-143 (1988), 8-4,5, accessed September 3, 2013, http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/madison/MD06-143_Hotel_Norfolk.pdf National Register narrative
  
99. "Noted Architect to Come to Omaha With Bankers Realty Investment Co.," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (February 18, 1917), 8 (with portrait).
+
36. "Hotels...Hampton, Iowa," ''The American Contractor'' (January 20, 1917), 24; "The Hotel Coonley," web-page online at http://iagenweb.org/franklin/Album/Hampton_1.htm (accessed January 3, 2022).  
  
100. "School Board Contracts with Omaha Architect," ''Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska)'' (January 5, 1917), 1; ''Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska)'' (January 4, 1918), 1.
+
37. ''The American Contractor'' (March 23, 1918), 60, accessed through Google Books on January 12, 2012, http://books.google.com/books?id=UCJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA64&lpg=RA10-PA64&dq=f+w+clarke,+architect,+york+hotel,+nebraska&source=bl&ots=-QV--qNAlx&sig=yQZ--Gvu9ph8VGJ7unfHB-6P9QU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=whYPT97eOov9iQLF9M3fDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=f%20w%20clarke%2C%20architect%2C%20york%20hotel%2C%20nebraska&f=false
  
101. "Fine New Hotel at 36th and Farnam. Three Hundred Thousand Dollar Building Planned, Bankers Realty Investment Announces," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee'' (May 12, 1915), 7.
+
38. "Country Banks in New Buildings," ''Bankers' Monthly'' (June 1918), 55.
  
102. "Elvad, President of Bankers Realty Co., Goes to Chicago to Live," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (May 28, 1919), 11.
+
39. ''The American Contractor'' (March 23, 1918), 60, accessed through Google Books on January 12, 2012, http://books.google.com/books?id=UCJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA64&lpg=RA10-PA64&dq=f+w+clarke,+architect,+york+hotel,+nebraska&source=bl&ots=-QV--qNAlx&sig=yQZ--Gvu9ph8VGJ7unfHB-6P9QU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=whYPT97eOov9iQLF9M3fDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=f%20w%20clarke%2C%20architect%2C%20york%20hotel%2C%20nebraska&f=false
  
103. "Sidney, Neb.--School...St. Patrick's Academy," ''The American Contractor'' (April 29, 1916), 23.
+
40. ''American Contractor'' (February 9, 1919), 50.
  
104. "Springfield, Nebr.--High School; $25,000," ''The American Contractor'' (June 23, 1917), 25.
+
41. "Here's Some News About Prominent Omaha Folks Now Making Their Homes in California," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (July 26, 1923), 7.
  
105. "Apt. Bldg. (30 fam): $40,000...Plattsmouth, Nebr.," ''The American Contractor'' (December 30, 1916), 60.
+
42. Ancestry.com. ''U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,'' s.v. "Peter Elvad," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.  
  
106. "The Most Important English Word..." (full-page advertisement for Bankers Realty Investment Company), ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (November 26, 1916), 14. Eight projects illustrated, including 4 completed: Blackstone Hotel (Omaha), St. Patrick's Rectory (O'Neil, Nebraska), Brondersleve Garage (38th & Farnam, Omaha), Double Store Building (Atkinson, Nebraska); and 4 "Architect's Drawing" for Blackstone Hotel (Kansas City, Missouri), Hartington (Nebraska) Hotel, St. Regis Apartment Building (Omaha), and "Apartment Building, Now under Construction for a Building Client at Plattsmouth, Nebraska."
+
43. Ancestry.com. ''U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current,'' s.v. "Peter Elved," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  
  
107. "The Bankers Realty Investment company today announced...," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (April 15, 1916), 4.
+
44. "Co-Operative Real Estate Company is Organized in Omaha," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee'' (July 1, 1912), 2.
  
108. "Hotels...Sioux City, Iowa...$750,000," ''The American Contractor'' (July 7, 1917), 41.
+
45. "Building Permits," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (May 26, 1915), 11.
  
109. "Hotels...Kearney, Nebr....$150,000," ''The American Contractor'' (April 21, 1917), 24.
+
46. "Elvad Firms in Hands of Receivers--Chicago Companies Organized by Former Omaha Man, Now in Los Angeles, Facing Serious Financial Difficulties," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (June 20, 1930), 1.
  
110. "The Blackstone Hotel, Kansas City, MO. Bankers' Realty Investment Co., Architects and Builders, Kansas City, Mo. [sic, corrected as Omaha subsequently], ''The American Contractor'' (December 16, 1916), 89 (illustrated with large rendering); "Hotels...Kansas City, Missouri...$700,000," ''The American Contractor'' (1917), 36 & 10.
+
47. Bankruptcy South for Stock Firm...Thousands Are Affected," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (October 9, 1920), 1.  
  
111. "Hotels...Hampton, Iowa," ''The American Contractor'' (January 20, 1917), 24; "The Hotel Coonley," web-page online at http://iagenweb.org/franklin/Album/Hampton_1.htm (accessed January 3, 2022).  
+
48. "The Hotel Kansan--The Topeka Project at Ninth and Kansas Avenue--Finally Adjusts and Overcomes Its Obstacles--Now Absolutely Divorces From North American and Bankers Realty Companies," ''Topeka (Kansas) State Journal'' (June 6, 1919), 1; "Begin Work Monday on Hotel Kansan at Ninth,"
 +
''Topeka (Kansas) State Journal'' (September 9, 1922), 1 (illustrated with rendering).
  
112. "More Hotels for North American--Omaha Concern Has Many New Enterprises Now Under Course of Construction," ''The Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News'' (January 1, 1918), 13.
+
49. "Multiple Dwelling," ''Los Angeles Times'' (October 10, 1926), 96; Multiple-Unit Building Rises--Adjoining Structures Will Connect," ''Los Angeles Times'' (November 30, 1930), 59 (illustrated with rendering of Art Deco, 9-story building).
  
113. "Two Chains of Hotels in Nebraska," ''Hotel Monthly'' (August 1917), 82.
+
50. "A Modern Seven-Room Home," ''Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee'' (September 27, 1914), 14.
  
114. Photocopy in private collection, see also "Elks Planning a Great Structure--Drawing of Proposed Enlarged Building Shown at Tuesday Dinner," ''Lincoln (Nebraska) Star'' (January 3, 1923), 5.
+
51. "A 12-Story Family Hotel," ''Kansas City (Missouri) Star'' (September 24, 1916), 12 (illustrated with rendering).
  
115. "Local Brevities...Makin [sic] Plans," ''York (Nebraska) Daily News'' (February 17, 1917), 6.
+
52. "Edward J. Sessinghaus," Application for Registration to Practice Professional Engineering or Architecture (January 2, 1940). State of Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects.
  
116. F. W. Fitzpatrick, "Really Big Business," opinion piece advocating review of governmental systems by "Chamber of Commerce of the United States," ''The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska)'' (June 14, 1917), 7.
+
53. "Building Service..." (richly illustrated full-page advertisement for Bankers Realty Investment Company, illustrated with photos of Blackstone Hotel, Cadillac Sales Garage, and 38th & Farnam garage in Omaha; Hotel Building in Hartington, Nebraska; Parochial School in Sidney, Nebraska; and Coronado Apartments in Plattsmouth, Nebraska; and renderings for hotels in Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Kearney, Nebraska; and for a hotel in Hampton, Iowa; St. Regis Apartments in Omaha; and Atlas Bank in Neligh, Nebraska), ''Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald'' (June 24, 1917), 8.
  
 
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Latest revision as of 17:04, 24 March 2024

Peter Elvad, 1916
Omaha, Nebraska, 1912-1920

Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC) was a vertically integrated real estate development company combining financing, architectural design, and construction services. It was organized in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1912 under Peter Elvad (1883-1953) as president.[44] BRIC initially built single-family residences, but soon expanded to a wider range of commercial and institutional projects in communities throughout Nebraska and surrounding states. BRIC grew rapidly and added at least three staff architects in 1916 and 1917.[2][3][4][a] North American Hotel Company (NAHC) was a closely affiliated subsidiary created as the operational arm for the enterprise's hotels. Hospitality projects were announced in numerous Nebraska communities as well as in Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri before World War One disrupted investment and construction activities.[11] In 1918 NAHC was barred from issuing additional stock in Nebraska. In 1919 NAHC sued BRIC, even though the two firms had overlapping boards of directors, and the joint enterprise went bankrupt in 1920.[5] This listing includes the known projects of Bankers Realty and North American Hotel. Those BRIC projects linked with specific designers are also entered on those individuals' pages.[b]

This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.

Professional Associations

1912-1920: Peter Elvad (1883-1953), president and general manager, Bankers Realty Investment Company, Omaha, Nebraska.[11][41][42][43][47][b][k]

1914-1920: W. V. Kernan, architect 1914-1915, chief architect 1916, purchasing agent 1917-1919, manager of construction division 1920, for Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC), Omaha, Nebraska.

1914-1915: D. W. Line, architect for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.

1916-1918: P. P. Lewis, architect for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[2]

1916-1918: T. P. Bialles, draftsman for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[3]

1917-1919: F. W. Fitzpatrick, head of architectural department and member of board of directors, BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[4][7][9][b]

1918: Edward J. Sessinghaus, structural draftsman for BRIC, Omaha, Nebraska.[52]

1918: Bankers Realty employed E. G. Ward as a draftsman.

Buildings & Projects

W. J. Clarkson residence (1914), 2520 North 48th Street, Omaha, Nebraska.[13]

V. R. Gittings residence (1914), 2516 North 50th Street, Omaha, Nebraska.[14]

"A Modern Seven-Room House" (1914), perspective photo & two floor plans published in Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee, "built in one of Omaha's prettiest additions."[50]

Frame dwelling (1915), 3016 Vinton, Omaha, Nebraska.[45]

Blackstone Hotel (1915-1916), 302 S 36th, Omaha, Nebraska.[7][18][19][20][21][22][53][c] (DO09:0319-006)

Architectural contract for $35,000 school building (1916), Ewing, Nebraska.[15]

Architectural contract for $20,000 school building (1916), Yutan, Nebraska.[15]

Cadillac Company of Omaha, Motor Sales Building (c. 1916), Omaha, Nebraska.[53]

Garage building (c. 1916), 3812 Farnam Street, Omaha, Nebraska.[53]

St. Regis Apartments (1916-1917), 617 S 37th, Omaha, Nebraska.[7][18][23][53] (DO09:0317-013)

Architectural contract for $20,000 school for St. Patrick's Academy (1916-1917), Sidney, Nebraska.[15][16][53]

Coronado (30-unit) apartment building (1916-1917), Plattsmouth, Nebraska.[17][18][53]

Hartington Hotel (1916-1917), Hartington, Nebraska.[2][18][24][25][53][a]

Bluffs Hotel (1917-1918), construction begun but project not completed, Scottsbluff, Nebraska.[2][21][26][27][53][c][d]

"figuring on the plans for the new school buildings," (1917), York, Nebraska.[28][e]

High School (1917), Springfield, Nebraska.[29]

North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), project not completed, Sioux City, Iowa.[21][27][30][c]

North American Hotel Company hotel (1917), project not completed, Kearney, Nebraska.[21][27][31][53][c]

North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), project not completed, Ottawa, Kansas.[27]

North American Hotel Company hotel (1917-1918), Ogallala, Nebraska.[21][27][c]

Blackstone Hotel (1917), unbuilt project at Linwood Blvd. and Paseo, Kansas City, Missouri.[21][32][51][c]

Red Cloud High School (1917-1918), Red Cloud, Nebraska.[33][f]

Yancey Hotel (1917-1923), 123 N Locust, Grand Island, Nebraska.[7][21][27][34][53][c] (HL06-014)

Project for North American Hotel (1917-1918), Norfolk, Nebraska.[21][27][35][c][g]

Hotel Coonley (1917-1918), Second Avenue and First Street Northwest, Hampton, Iowa.[27][36][53]

Project for North American Hotel Company (1918), Eldorado, Kansas.[27][37]

Project for North American Hotel Company (1918), Topeka, Kansas.[27][48][l]

Atlas Bank & office building, (1918), Neligh, Nebraska.[2][7][38][53][h] Exterior (2016) severely compromised by window replacement. (AP04-168)

Masonic Temple, stores, & office building, (1918), 107 S Broadway, Riverton, Wyoming.[7][38][i]

Elkhorn Valley State Bank & office building (1918-1919), Stanton, Nebraska.[39][40][j] (ST02-047)

Notes

a. Omaha newspapers announced the hiring of three architects by Bankers Realty in 1916 and 1917. Percy P. Lewis (1885-1962) from Wilkes, Barre, Pennsylvania joined the company in February 1916 and was mentioned in connection with visits by Bankers Realty representatives to various communities in connection with Bankers Realty projects in 1916-1918.[2] The Hartington Hotel was one such project. In 1916 two company representatives visited Hartington to view hotel sites. One was "Architect P. Lewis." Percy P. Lewis is listed in the 1916 Omaha city directory as an architect with Bankers Realty.[2] In March 1916 it was reported that T. P. Bialles "until recently of Chicago, has joined the architectural staff of Bankers' Realty Investment company." He was said to have studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Technical college and "has many years experience in large building designs."[98] Further references to Bialles have not yet been found. A year later, in February 1917, Omaha Bee reported F. W. Fitzpatrick's engagement "by the Bankers Realty Investment company as head of its construction department."[3][4]

b. The Bankers Realty Investment Company (BRIC) was described in a long article in the Sunday Omaha World-Herald of 1916 (identified as “Publicity Advertising”). BRIC originated in 1912 and grew by 1916 to build projects such as the St. Regis Apartments and Blackstone Hotel.[1] E. F. Morearty of Omaha provided a similar description of the company in 1917, also tracing its origins to 1912 in Omaha. He wrote, “Ten professions and forty-six trades are ordinarily required in carrying out a building enterprise of any magnitude. And, ordinarily, these numerous factors work independently of each other, to the detriment of efficient and satisfactory results. The Bankers Realty Investment Company has welded together everything incident to the construction of any building, from a simple home to a huge business enterprise.” Morearty bemoaned that he had not purchased stock in the company and recommended its purchase even “at its present advanced price….”[6]

Fitzpatrick continued his active writing for publication while with BRIC, in Nebraska newspapers [7][8] and architectural magazines. In 1918 Inland Architect published an exuberant, richly illustrated profile of BRIC by Fitzpatrick, describing a vertically integrated group of businesses to design, construct, and operate buildings, especially hotels. The article is complete with seven photos of the company’s Blackstone Hotel in Omaha and Fitzpatrick watercolor renderings of five other Midwestern projects. He concluded “With the architectural end of the work in competent hands [his own], its construction, engineering, purchasing and general office details likewise directed by experts, the Bankers Realty Investment Company would seem to be assured so phenomenal a success that it must soon outgrow its present field of activity, the Middle West, for it is equipped to do construction along National lines.”[7]

The Nebraska State Railway Commission did not agree, denying an application of the subsidiary North American Hotel Company to sell securities in Nebraska in 1918, questioning both its reporting of assets and the interweaving of the interests of the supposedly separate corporations, to the detriment of the stockholders.[10] Fitzpatrick resigned as one of the four directors of BRIC and moved to the Chicago area by May 1919. The Omaha Bee reported in May 1919 that the company president, Peter Elvad, also relocated to Chicago and that "War restrictions on building operations affected the business of Bankers' Realty Investment company, as well as the North American Hotel company."[11] The two "interwoven" companies engaged each other in litigation in 1919 and filed for bankruptcy in 1920. In 1920, F. W. Fitzpatrick was listed in the U. S. Census in Evanston, Illinois, where Francis and his wife, Agnes, were among nineteen residents of a boarding house.[12]

c. Hotel Monthly magazine commented on "Two Chains of Hotels in Nebraska" in August 1917, mentioned North American Hotel Company in Omaha and Nebraska Hotel Company in Lincoln. The former "started with The Blackstone" in Omaha" and reportedly had five hotels "under construction at Kearney, Grand Island, Scottsbluff, Neb." and Hampton, Iowa. In addition, the Omaha firm was "promoting hotels in Sioux City,, Iowa; Norfolk, Neb, and Kansas City, Mo."[21] The project was illustrated in Kansas City Star in September 1916.[51] W. V. Kernan was mentioned as BRIC's "chief architect" prior to W. F. Fitzpatrick's hiring and apparently was the principal designer of The Blackstone in Omaha.

d. In Scottsbluff, the Bankers Realty/North American Hotel interests went head-to-head with another Omaha hotel group, starting to build the Bluffs Hotel shortly after Scottsbluff boosters gave free land to the group building the Lincoln Hotel. Both projects suffered shortages of materials and capital during World War I, and both groups went bankrupt in 1921. But the Lincoln was finished and operating while the Bluffs Hotel, along with a half-dozen other hotel projects begun by North American Hotel Company in Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa in 1917, still stood incomplete in 1921. The “Bluff” was finally finished as Scottbluff’s Methodist Hospital.[5][31]

e. A brief note in a York, Nebraska newspaper in 1917 reported: "Makin [sic] Plans--P. W. Rathburn representing F. W. Fitzpatrick, former supervising architect of the United States, was in the city yesterday figuring on the plans for the new school buildings."[115] York voters approved a large bond to build a new high school and three elementary schools in early 1917; Berlinghof and Davis were their architects. Perry W. Rathburn was listed as a draftsman for an Omaha lumberyard in 1910. His connection with Fitzpatrick is not clear. Perhaps Bankers Realty Investment Company was preparing to bid on the construction. Fitzpatrick also prepared watercolor renderings for several Berlinghof & Davis projects, sometimes in support of bond elections.

f. A newspaper in Red Cloud, Nebraska noted in 1917 that plans by P. P. Lewis of Omaha had been selected for a high school building and that he had been contracted to prepare specifications based on "Scheme B," provided the assembly room could be enlarged to accommodate 150 students. In January 1918 "paraphernalia" was being moved into the new building. "P. P. Lewis of the "Bankers Realty and Investment Co. of Omaha, the architects in charge" was in Red Cloud and planned to return when "the next cold snap" would provide an opportunity to test the heating plant.[33]

g. Hotel Norfolk in Norfolk, Madison County, Nebraska, began construction in 1920 and was not completed until 1925. The project had its origins in 1917 when North American Hotel Company of Omaha, affiliated with Bankers Realty Investment Company, purchased a site in downtown Norfolk and announced intentions to build “one of the most beautiful hotel buildings in the state.” In 1918 Bankers Realty developed plans for the project and excavation began, but halted by 1919 with the serious financial troubles of both related firms. Norfolk investors managed to obtain possession of the site and resumed the project under new plans by the hotel architects H. L. Stevens Company. A postcard view of the earlier design shows Fitzpatrick’s typically lively rendering style.[35]

h. Fitzpatrick published a rendering in 1918 captioned "Design for a Bank Building, Omaha" depicting a long, narrow, two- story building with a sculpture of Atlas at the center of the front parapet, bending beneath a globe.[7] The rendering closely matches Atlas Bank in Neligh, Nebraska, where another publication of 1918 indicates Bankers' Realty Investment Co. built a bank that year, designed by Fitzpatrick.[38] Probably the caption in the first publication was simply erroneous, but it is possible the building was first planned for Omaha, then built instead in Neligh.

i. Bankers' Monthly of June 1918 credits Bankers' Realty Investment Co., and Fitzpatrick as "Chief Architect," with "a building for the Riverton, Wyoming Masons, which besides its lodge and club rooms and 22 suites of modern offices, will contain several stores, and one of the most attractive banking rooms in the State of Wyoming."[7]

j. American Contractor of February 9, 1919 includes: "Contracts Awarded...Bank & Office Bldg.: $20,000. 1 sty. 22x100 & 2 sty. Stanton, Nebr. Archt. F. W. Fitzpatrick, care contr. Gen. contr. let on percentage basis to Bankers Realty Co., Bee bldg., Omaha."[39] Bankers' Monthly of June 1918 notes: "Work has been commenced on the excavation for the Elkhorn Valley State Bank, at Stanton, Neb., by the Bankers Realty Investment Co., of Omaha, Neb. It will be of classic style, and constructed of brick and stone. The building will be 22 x 100 ft..."[40]

k. Elvad left Omaha for Chicago in 1919 and organized another pair of interlocking companies, Continental Engineering Construction Company and Fidelity Securities Company. "According to reports from Chicago, operations of the two windy city enterprises were similar to those of the Bankers' Realty Investment and North American Hotel companies of Omaha." Both were in receivership by June, 1920 when it was reported "Elvad left Chicago last month and is now in Los Angeles."[46] As late as 1923, while vacationing in California, William Kernan, "former Omaha architect," reported back to an Omaha newspaper that "Peter Elvad,former president of the Bankers Realty and Investment company of this city, which failed two years ago, is recuperating his shattered health and expects to get back into business in Los Angeles in the near future." In 1925, Los Angeles Times reported that Elvad planned to build a $125,000 apartment building at 1219-1223 North Vermont Avenue in L.A. The 4-story, 37 unit building appears to be standing at that address today (2022). Other projects were announced and built (and are still standing), including a 8-story apartment house at 535 South Gramercy Place.[49] Danish-born Elved died in California at age 70 in 1953. [41][43]

l. BRIC's hotel project in Topeka was halted by the Omaha companies' financial woes in the 1919 after the foundation was excavated. Work resumed in 1922 on the site under new ownership and new plans by architects Shepherd & Wiser of Kansas City.[48]

References

1. “Plan and Operation of the Bankers Realty Investment Company,” Sunday Omaha World-Herald (November 26, 1916): B8 and E5 with portraits of Company officers and interior photos of Blackstone Hotel.

2. "Wonderful Growth of Omaha Now Attracting Builders of the East," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (February 13, 1916), 36 (with P. P. Lewis portrait); "East Watching Omaha, Declares P. P. Lewis," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (February 22, 1916), 12 (with portrait); "Prominent Wilkes Barre, PA., Architect Comes to Omaha," The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska) (February 24, 1916), 2. SEE also "Atlas Bank Architect Here" and "Nearing Completion," both The Neligh (Nebraska) Register respectively (December 27, 1917 and January 17, 1918), both 5.

3. "Another Eastern Architect [T. P. Bialles] Comes to Omaha," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (March 26, 1916), 40.

4. "Noted Architect [F. W. Fitzpatrick] to Come to Omaha With Bankers Realty Investment Co.," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (February 18, 1917), 8 (with portrait).

5. “Ask Bankers Realty be declared bankrupt,” Omaha World-Herald (October 9, 1920), 11; and “Creditors of two companies sign pact,” Omaha World-Herald (December 14, 1921), 17, agreement between the bankrupt Bankers Realty Investment Company and North American Hotel Company.

6. Edward Francis Morearty, “The Bankers Realty Investment Company,” Omaha memories: recollections of events, men and affairs in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1879 to 1917 (Omaha: Swartz Printing Co., 1917), 241-243.

7. F. W. Fitzgerald, “Mid-West Building Activities,” The Architect and Engineer of California (March, 1918), 91-98.

8. F. W. Fitzpatrick, "Really Big Business," opinion piece advocating review of governmental systems by "Chamber of Commerce of the United States," The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska) (June 14, 1917), 7.

9. “Fitzpatrick chosen as a director [of the Bankers Realty Investment Company],” Sunday Omaha World-Herald (February 10, 1918), 9, with portrait.

10. “Application 3076, In the matter of the application of the North American Hotel Company of Council Bluffs, Iowa, for permit to sell securities in Nebraska,” Annual Report of the Nebraska State Railway Commissioner to the Governor, Issue 11 (Nebraska State Railway Commission, Lincoln, NE: Kline Publishing Co., 1918), 299-304.

11. "Elvad, President of Bankers Realty Co., Goes to Chicago to Live," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (May 28, 1919), 11.

12. “United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch, accessed February 17, 2013, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJW7-QK9 Francis W Fitzpatrick in household of Clara Root, Ridgeville, Cook, Illinois; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 14B, family 342, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820358.

13. "Omaha is Growing," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (February 1, 1915), 5.

14. Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (February 16, 1915), 2.

15. "The Bankers Realty Investment company today announced...," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (April 15, 1916), 4.

16. "Sidney, Neb.--School...St. Patrick's Academy," The American Contractor (April 29, 1916), 23.

17. "Apt. Bldg. (30 fam): $40,000...Plattsmouth, Nebr.," The American Contractor (December 30, 1916), 60.

18. "The Most Important English Word..." (full-page advertisement for Bankers Realty Investment Company), Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (November 26, 1916), 14. Eight projects illustrated, including 4 completed: Blackstone Hotel (Omaha), St. Patrick's Rectory (O'Neil, Nebraska), Brondersleve Garage (38th & Farnam, Omaha), Double Store Building (Atkinson, Nebraska); and 4 "Architect's Drawing" for Blackstone Hotel (Kansas City, Missouri), Hartington (Nebraska) Hotel, St. Regis Apartment Building (Omaha), and "Apartment Building, Now under Construction for a Building Client at Plattsmouth, Nebraska."

19. Lynn Meyer, “Blackstone Hotel,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form (Omaha: Omaha City Planning Department, 1982), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728155830/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas/DO09-Blackstone-Hotel.pdf

20. "Fine New Hotel at 36th and Farnam. Three Hundred Thousand Dollar Building Planned, Bankers Realty Investment Announces," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (May 12, 1915), 7.

21. "Two Chains of Hotels in Nebraska," Hotel Monthly (August 1917), 82.

22. "The new Blackstone Family Hotel as it will look when completed...," The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska) (October 14, 1915), 1.

23. Stacey C. Pilgrim and Lynn Meyer, “Gold Coast Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (Omaha: Omaha City Planning Department, November, 1996), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20170108122509/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas/DO09-Gold-Coast-HD.PDF

24. "To Decide Monday. Hotel Co. Officials to Return Then. Conditions Very Favorable. Architect Views Proposed Locations...," Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska) (May 18, 1916), 1.

25. "The Hartington Hotel, Banker Realty Investment Company, Architect and Builder," The Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska), (May 24, 1917), 7 (full-page, 14 photographs).

26. Clayton B. Fraser, “Lincoln Hotel, Scottsbluff, Nebraska,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (Loveland, Colorado: FraserDesign, November 3, 1997, 14-18), accessed February 23, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728232922/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/scotsblf/SF11-211_Lincoln_Hotel.pdf National Register narrative

27. "More Hotels for North American--Omaha Concern Has Many New Enterprises Now Under Course of Construction," The Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (January 1, 1918), 13.

28. "Local Brevities...Makin [sic] Plans," York (Nebraska) Daily News (February 17, 1917), 6.

29. "Springfield, Nebr.--High School; $25,000," The American Contractor (June 23, 1917), 25.

30. "Hotels...Sioux City, Iowa...$750,000," The American Contractor (July 7, 1917), 41.

31. "Hotels...Kearney, Nebr....$150,000," The American Contractor (April 21, 1917), 24.

32. "The Blackstone Hotel, Kansas City, MO. Bankers' Realty Investment Co., Architects and Builders, Kansas City, Mo. [sic, corrected as Omaha subsequently], The American Contractor (December 16, 1916), 89 (illustrated with large rendering); "Hotels...Kansas City, Missouri...$700,000," The American Contractor (1917), 36 & 10.

33. "School Board Contracts with Omaha Architect," Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska) (January 5, 1917), 1; Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska) (January 4, 1918), 1.

34. Virginia F. Duncan, “The Hotel Yancey,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form (Lincoln, Nebraska: Devco, Inc., August, 1984), accessed March 4, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20160728190434/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/hall/HL06-014_Hotel_Yancey.pdf

35. Dana L. Pratt, “Hotel Norfolk,” nomination to National Register of Historic Places, NeHbs#MD06-143 (1988), 8-4,5, accessed September 3, 2013, http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/madison/MD06-143_Hotel_Norfolk.pdf National Register narrative

36. "Hotels...Hampton, Iowa," The American Contractor (January 20, 1917), 24; "The Hotel Coonley," web-page online at http://iagenweb.org/franklin/Album/Hampton_1.htm (accessed January 3, 2022).

37. The American Contractor (March 23, 1918), 60, accessed through Google Books on January 12, 2012, http://books.google.com/books?id=UCJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA64&lpg=RA10-PA64&dq=f+w+clarke,+architect,+york+hotel,+nebraska&source=bl&ots=-QV--qNAlx&sig=yQZ--Gvu9ph8VGJ7unfHB-6P9QU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=whYPT97eOov9iQLF9M3fDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=f%20w%20clarke%2C%20architect%2C%20york%20hotel%2C%20nebraska&f=false

38. "Country Banks in New Buildings," Bankers' Monthly (June 1918), 55.

39. The American Contractor (March 23, 1918), 60, accessed through Google Books on January 12, 2012, http://books.google.com/books?id=UCJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA64&lpg=RA10-PA64&dq=f+w+clarke,+architect,+york+hotel,+nebraska&source=bl&ots=-QV--qNAlx&sig=yQZ--Gvu9ph8VGJ7unfHB-6P9QU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=whYPT97eOov9iQLF9M3fDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=f%20w%20clarke%2C%20architect%2C%20york%20hotel%2C%20nebraska&f=false

40. American Contractor (February 9, 1919), 50.

41. "Here's Some News About Prominent Omaha Folks Now Making Their Homes in California," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (July 26, 1923), 7.

42. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, s.v. "Peter Elvad," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

43. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "Peter Elved," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

44. "Co-Operative Real Estate Company is Organized in Omaha," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (July 1, 1912), 2.

45. "Building Permits," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (May 26, 1915), 11.

46. "Elvad Firms in Hands of Receivers--Chicago Companies Organized by Former Omaha Man, Now in Los Angeles, Facing Serious Financial Difficulties," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (June 20, 1930), 1.

47. Bankruptcy South for Stock Firm...Thousands Are Affected," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (October 9, 1920), 1.

48. "The Hotel Kansan--The Topeka Project at Ninth and Kansas Avenue--Finally Adjusts and Overcomes Its Obstacles--Now Absolutely Divorces From North American and Bankers Realty Companies," Topeka (Kansas) State Journal (June 6, 1919), 1; "Begin Work Monday on Hotel Kansan at Ninth," Topeka (Kansas) State Journal (September 9, 1922), 1 (illustrated with rendering).

49. "Multiple Dwelling," Los Angeles Times (October 10, 1926), 96; Multiple-Unit Building Rises--Adjoining Structures Will Connect," Los Angeles Times (November 30, 1930), 59 (illustrated with rendering of Art Deco, 9-story building).

50. "A Modern Seven-Room Home," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee (September 27, 1914), 14.

51. "A 12-Story Family Hotel," Kansas City (Missouri) Star (September 24, 1916), 12 (illustrated with rendering).

52. "Edward J. Sessinghaus," Application for Registration to Practice Professional Engineering or Architecture (January 2, 1940). State of Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects.

53. "Building Service..." (richly illustrated full-page advertisement for Bankers Realty Investment Company, illustrated with photos of Blackstone Hotel, Cadillac Sales Garage, and 38th & Farnam garage in Omaha; Hotel Building in Hartington, Nebraska; Parochial School in Sidney, Nebraska; and Coronado Apartments in Plattsmouth, Nebraska; and renderings for hotels in Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Kearney, Nebraska; and for a hotel in Hampton, Iowa; St. Regis Apartments in Omaha; and Atlas Bank in Neligh, Nebraska), Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald (June 24, 1917), 8.

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer, “Bankers Realty Investment Company, Real Estate Developers,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, August 28, 2023. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.


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